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CPC technology class · C10

C10M - Lubricating Compositions

Lubricating compositions ; use of chemical substances either alone or as lubricating ingredients in a lubricating composition. 4,240 US utility patents granted 2015–2025, with the leading assignees and year-by-year grant trajectory.

4,240
US patents granted
#3/10
in C10
15.5%
C10 class share
-10%
5-yr velocity

The verdict

According to USPTO PatentsView, Lubricating Compositions ranks #262 of 670 CPC technology areas - 4,240 US patents granted since 2015, with recorded grant volume down 10% over five years.

#262
of 670 CPC technology areas
4,240
US patents granted, 2015–2025
Idemitsu Kosan
leading assignee (213)
-10%
grant velocity, last 5 yrs

How C10M's grant cadence moved

Between 2020–2024, C10M recorded 1,717 grants versus 1,899 in 2015–2019 (-10% equal-window velocity). Across complete years, output peaked in 2019 at 398 grants and bottomed in 2024 at 270 (+47% peak-over-trough). Lead assignee Idemitsu Kosan Co., Ltd. holds 5.0% of the class ; the top three share 13.3%.

Leaderboard read

C10M concentration, lead at 5.0%

Idemitsu Kosan Co., Ltd. leads this historical grant record at 5.0% of C10M - foreign corporation assignees hold 53% of class grants (1,345 of 2,520). Figures describe granted US utility patents in this CPC subclass, not current investment or legal strength.

Leader's share
5.0%

213 of 4,240 grants

Top three share
13.3%

of the class's recorded grants

Lead over #2
5

more grants than The Lubrizol Corporation

Where C10M sits inside C10

Among 10 subclasses in C10 (Petroleum, GAS OR Coke INDUSTRIES; Technical Gases Containing Carbon MONOXIDE; FUELS; LUBRICANTS; Peat), C10M ranks #3 and holds 15.5% of the parent class's 27,322 recorded grants. Sibling chips below are the other subclasses in the same parent class, not the nationwide volume/lead-share peers further down.

C10G 9,942 C10L 5,025 C10N 3,834 C10B 1,527 C10J 1,392 C10K 1,080 C10C 264 C10F 12

Rising assignees active in C10M

Company-wide grant multiples (2022–2024 vs 2019–2021) among assignees with ≥5 patents in this subclass. Growth is company-wide; class patent counts are subclass-specific.

  1. #1 Exxon Mobil Technology and Engineering Company 298x 0 → 298 company-wide · 19 in C10M
  2. #2 Resonac Corporation 192x 0 → 192 company-wide · 19 in C10M
  3. #3 Shell USA, Inc. 110x 0 → 110 company-wide · 16 in C10M
  4. #4 Totalenergies Onetech 65x 0 → 65 company-wide · 21 in C10M
  5. #5 Lanxess Corporation 18x 1 → 18 company-wide · 10 in C10M

C10M grants by year, peak 2019 (398)

US utility-patent grants per year in C10M, 2015–2025 - recent five years are down 10% versus 2015–2019.

200250300350400450 20152016201720182019202020212022202320242025 228

Who leads C10M?

The 12 most active assignees in Lubricating Compositions ; USE OF Chemical Substances Either Alone OR AS Lubricating Ingredients IN A Lubricating Composition - wider bars mean more grants

patents

What this shows Idemitsu Kosan is the most active filer in C10M, holding 213 of the 4,240 patents in this class. Concentration at the top signals how contestable this technology area is for new entrants.

Source USPTO PatentsView, granted utility patents As of 2015–2025 grant years
View data table
Top patent holders in CPC subclass C10M
Rank Company Patents in C10M
#1 Idemitsu Kosan Co., Ltd. 213
#2 The Lubrizol Corporation 208
#3 Afton Chemical Corporation 142
#4 Exxonmobil Research AND Engineering Company 140
#5 Infineum International Limited 81
#6 Chevron Oronite Company LLC 75
#7 Total Marketing Services 70
#8 ExxonMobil Chemical Patents Inc. 68
#9 JX Nippon Oil & Energy Corporation 63
#10 Chevron U.S.A. Inc. 61
#11 Eneos Corporation 55
#12 Kyodo Yushi Co., Ltd. 46
#13 THE Chemours Company FC, LLC 44
#14 Shell OIL Compny 41
#15 Biosynthetic Technologies, LLC 32
#16 Evonik Operations GmbH 29
#17 Showa Denko K.K. 27
#18 Vallourec OIL AND GAS France 27
#19 Jxtg Nippon OIL & Energy Corporation 25
#20 Neste OYJ 24

Footprint here vs. claim strategy

Each dot is a leading C10M assignee, placed by how many patents it holds in this class (horizontal) against its company-wide average claims per patent (vertical) - a read on whether the class is led by broad-but-shallow filers or focused deep-claim players.

Top 14 C10M assignees by class footprint. Bubble size = patents in C10M. Source: USPTO PatentsView (claim depth is company-wide across all classes). Scatter plot of 14 data points (bubble-sized by third dimension). 510152025 050100150200250 Patents in C10M Avg claims / patent (company-wide) Idemitsu KosanThe LubrizolAfton ChemicalExxonmobil Research…Infineum InternationalChevron OroniteTotal Marketing…Exxonmobil Chemical…Jx Nippon Oil & EnergyChevron UEneosKyodo YushiThe Chemours FcShell Oil Compny
Top 14 C10M assignees by class footprint. Bubble size = patents in C10M. Source: USPTO PatentsView (claim depth is company-wide across all classes).

Classes near C10M's 4,240-grant footprint

Nationwide nearest neighbors for C10M (#262 of 670 by volume ; lead share 5.0%) - not the C10 parent-class siblings above.

Nearest by grant volume

B67D 4,233 Y02C 4,229 C25B 4,224 B60B 4,268

Nearest by lead-assignee share

B07C 5.0% H03J 5.0% B26F 5.0% F23N 5.0%

Questions about C10M

Which company holds the most patents in C10M?
Idemitsu Kosan Co., Ltd. leads C10M with 213 patents (5.0% of the subclass). By PatentsView assignee type, foreign corporations account for 53% of class grants.
Which C10M assignees grew fastest recently?
Among assignees with ≥5 grants in C10M, Exxon Mobil Technology and Engineering Company shows the highest company-wide grant multiple (298x: 0 grants in 2019–2021 → 298 in 2022–2024) while holding 19 patents in this subclass. Growth is company-wide, not class-only.
How does C10M compare inside parent class C10?
Inside C10 (Petroleum, GAS OR Coke INDUSTRIES; Technical Gases Containing Carbon MONOXIDE; FUELS; LUBRICANTS; Peat), C10M ranks #3 of 10 subclasses by grant volume and holds 15.5% of the parent class total. The largest sibling is C10G (9,942 grants).

What to do with this data

C10M in context - here's where to go next.

  • Idemitsu Kosan Co., Ltd. leads C10M with 213 grants in this class. See full portfolio
  • C10M ranks #262 of 670 by grant volume among all tracked CPC technology areas. See the ranking
  • Inside parent class C10, the largest sibling subclass is C10G with 9,942 grants. Explore C10G

Figures reflect USPTO PatentsView grant data through 2026-05-15; pending applications not yet granted are not counted.

Methodology - C10M figures are USPTO PatentsView granted-utility totals for this subclass (4,240 grants in the tracked window).

Every figure on PlainPatent is rendered directly from USPTO source data, no number is typed in by an editor. This page draws directly on USPTO source data, no figure is typed in by an editor. See our editorial standards & corrections policy, the methodology behind these numbers, or report a data error.